4<\/p>\n The 2026 US Open will take place at Shinnehock Hills Golf Club in New YorkCredit: Getty<\/p>\n Qualifying for the 121st edition of the tournament has already begun, and plenty of stars from other sports have thrown their name into the mix.<\/p>\n Former ATP Tour winner Mardy Fish and CBS announcer Tony Romo are among those hoping to make it into the 156 alongside the current members of the PGA Tour<\/a>, qualifying works in two rounds.<\/p>\n It begins with local qualifying 18 holes that will take place at 108 sites from April 20-May 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n If successful, they will move on to final qualifying, over 36 holes, which is scheduled to be contested at 13 sites from May 18-June 8.<\/p>\n READ MORE ON GOLF<\/p>\n A name who is attempting to make it all the way to New York is former Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks.<\/p>\n Hicks will attempt to qualify on May 11 in Phoenix, Ariz., at Papago Golf Course.<\/p>\n Hicks last played in the MLB<\/a> in 2024, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, but appeared in 651 games for the Yankees.<\/p>\n Not a prolific home run hitter, amassing just 109 in his 12-year career, Hicks has certainly proved he can strike the ball a long way on the golf course.<\/p>\n In the celebrity division at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions that took place in January, he was striking the ball at 129mph<\/a> a long way ahead from the other athletes competing.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s unsurprising that he can do this on a golf course, after all, he was seriously considering pursuing a career in it before he discovered baseball<\/a>.<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Hicks has been out of the MLB since 2024, and will attempt to qualify for the upcoming US Open in JuneCredit: Getty 4<\/p>\n Hicks is no stranger to golf, having competed in the celebrity division at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of ChampionsCredit: Getty<\/p>\n \u201cAaron was hitting the ball straight, he was hitting it flush, and I really noticed, \u2018There\u2019s something there. Aaron\u2019s got a good swing, let\u2019s just see what happens,\u2019\u200a\u201d His dad, Joe recalled, in an interview with the New York Post.<\/a><\/p>\n At eight years-old, Aaron was winning junior golf tournaments, and by 12 he was a golf prodigy, having won numerous tournaments around the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n He had a 2 handicap and was, in his father\u2019s words, \u201clike a celebrity\u2019\u2019 in the area because of his prowess.<\/p>\n He instead chose to chase the dream of stepping onto a Major League field, honoring his dad\u2019s wish to become a switch hitter.<\/p>\n Hicks also has some serious familial ties to professional golf. His wife, Cheyenne Woods, has competed in five U.S. Women\u2019s Opens and is the niece of Tiger Woods<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cheyenne is the daughter of Earl Dennison Woods Jr., Tiger\u2019s half-brother, making her Tiger\u2019s half-niece.<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Hicks was a golf-prodigy growing up, and is married to Tiger Woods\u2019 half nieceCredit: Getty<\/p>\n Woods graduated from Wake Forest University in 2012 and became the sixth African American to compete on the LPGA Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n She won the 2014 Volvik RACV Ladies Masters and was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in March 2025. Her last LPGA appearance came in September 2021.<\/p>\n Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n The golf ties have clearly kept his game sharp. He brings a plus-handicap and serious power to competitive golf events, and should be an intriguing name to watch ahead of as the qualifying rounds draw to a close in late May.<\/p>\n Stay up to date with the latest from golf across all platforms – follow our dedicated\u00a0talkSPORT USA Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe to our\u00a0talkSPORT USA YouTube channel\u00a0<\/a>for all the offseason news, interviews and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They call them the \u2018Bronx Bombers\u2019 for a reason. On June 18, 2026, 156 golfers will make the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[266944,427,37251,266928,266927,266929,369,266934,266936,266935,266937,99,11883,266942,266943,266930,62815,266941,266932,266931,266933,12404,163244,266939,266938,266940],"class_list":["post-614865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-aaron-hicks-golf","tag-golf","tag-golf-news","tag-golf-rumors","tag-golf-rumours","tag-golf-updates","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-new-york-yankees-news","tag-new-york-yankees-rumors","tag-new-york-yankees-rumours","tag-new-york-yankees-updates","tag-sports","tag-us-open","tag-us-open-aaron-hicks","tag-us-open-aaron-hicks-golf","tag-us-open-dates","tag-us-open-news","tag-us-open-qualifying","tag-us-open-rumors","tag-us-open-rumours","tag-us-open-updates","tag-yankees","tag-yankees-news","tag-yankees-rumors","tag-yankees-rumours","tag-yankees-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2025-southampton-new-york-126th-1076894265.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/31-new-york-yankees-hits-1076894217.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/aaron-hicks-looks-capital-one-1076895446.jpg\")
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